Commentary: On Genesis

[Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion [lit., and they shall rule (ve-yirdu)] over the fish of the sea (ha-yam), over the birds of the air (ha-shamayim), and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)—Ed.]

The word they shall rule includes the entire range of devices with which man rules over the animals: over some with fetters and bridles, over some with ropes and reins, over some with enclosures and chains, over some with weapons of the hunt, over some with cages and towers, and so on—until he [God] instructed him [man] concerning everything. And the word the fish includes the stratagems for catching fish from the bottom of the sea and the rivers, the preparation of the permitted species in cooking utensils and their consumption, the extraction of pearls from the shells, and the use of the appropriate portions of skin and bones and everything associated with this. And he added the word of the sea to include man’s subjugation of the water as well; for he finds it within the ground and raises it out with pulleys and with . . . or with containers or with a machine utilizing force and pressure. And thus he dams rivers to transfer water from one side to the other, and he uses it to power the mills. As Scripture stated elsewhere (Psalms 8:9), whatever travels the path of the seas, hinting at the construction of ships and boats and barges with which to cross from shore to shore. He even makes ’al-dra’min, the enormous galleys holding thousands of men with which to traverse the expanses of the seas. . . . And in areas of rocky promontories they make papyrus boats and cross in them so that they should not break. As Isaiah specified (18:2), in papyrus vessels upon the water. And his word and the birds corresponds to the various snares for hunting birds which fly in the sky, the process of taming some in order to hunt others, the preparation from them of foods for his sustenance and potions for medicines and the like. And he added of the sky to include the ability of man to understand the heavenly sphere and its composition [ . . . ] and to prepare the various instruments for measuring the hours and their components. And with the word the cattle he gave him the authority to lead and the power to make use of them all, to eat the flesh of those fit for consumption through various means of cooking and in the different forms of food, to heal from that which is medicinal, to ride on those suited for riding like mules, and to know all their diets, that is, how to feed them. And the words the whole earth hint at the talent for building houses, fortresses, and battlements, for plowing the land, for sowing diverse seeds, for planting vegetation, for extracting gold, silver, iron, and copper from the mines, for artfully fashioning utensils and jewels, for refining tools for agricultural work like the blade of the cattle-drawn plow, for making tools of carpentry like saws and axes, for making tools for the weaving of cloth like the weavers’ beam . . . and for fashioning writing utensils like pens and inks and the like. [ . . . ] And I have been brief and have not brought scriptural evidence for each one of these. And with the word and all the creeping things he hinted at the understanding which he gave man to confine bees in hives to make honey for him and deposit it in a tree.